Firefly Bookstore celebrates anniversary with author visits

A year can fly by, and also seem like forever say Rebecca Laincz and Matthew Williams, co-owners of Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown.

“It’s been such a fantastic experience being here this year. We’ve had nothing but great feedback from our customers. It’s so gratifying to know how we’ve been embraced by this community” said the owners who will be celebrating their 1st anniversary.

The business has grown quickly over the past 12 months, with the expansion of the range of products they offer and adding thousands of new and used titles to the shelves.

“Just this past month we crossed the 37,000 item point in the store. We’re pretty sure we can fit in even more books,” they said.

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This past March, they added a new product line, tabletop games.

“Our gaming business has become an important part of what we do here. There’s a huge interest from all kinds of people – young and old, men and women, experienced players and ‘newbies’, families and friends – who are drawn to these kinds of games. Our weekly game nights on Tuesdays during this summer have been extremely successful.”

In addition to games, they are also adding a textbook rental service to support the needs of the local students.

“We had so many requests last year from Kutztown University students, that we wanted to find a solution for them” said Williams about the new program.

Customers who need textbooks can rent them for large discounts off the retail price. Firefly Bookstore has a new web page devoted to this service at textbook.fireflybookstore.com.

Next year’s calenders are also arriving in the store at the end of August. Firefly has ordered hundreds of titles and formats to appeal to almost any interest.

“We’re always excited for ‘Calendar Season’ in the store. We’re going to be carrying even more titles and publishers than we did last year!” Laincz said.

These titles will be in the store starting Aug. 30, and will immediately be on sale at 25 percent off retail.

The celebration will conclude that weekend with two author events. First, on Thursday Sept. 5 from 6 to 9 p.m., Richard Plinke will be in the store talking about his book “From the Jaws of the Dragon”. The book includes articles and writings from his blog about salesmanship. Plinke’s writing is described as a humorous and satirical, and includes many practical ideas about salesmanship.

On Friday, Sept. 6 from 5 to 7 p.m., Kathy M. Miller and Chippy the Chipmunk will be in the store for a book signing and to talk about her award-winning books, “Party in the Garden” and “Babies in the Garden”. Chippy the Chipmunk will join the local author to meet readers and have his photo taken. These upcoming author events are free and open to the public.

Laincz and Williams spoke about the future of their store.

“We’re very excited about this coming year. We are looking forward to holding more events, adding more products and building on the great customer relations we’ve had this past year.”

Firefly Bookstore is located at 230 West Main St. in Kutztown. For more about services, products or information about events, contact the store at 484-648-2712.